Schoolgirl’s mum speaks out amid manhunt for wannabe child-snatchers

Michael Holmes

A mum has told of her horror after two men allegedly tried to kidnap her young daughter.

Annabelle Adamthwaite-Smith, 12, managed to get away after one of the men – in a minivan – yelled ‘get her in’.

The Hodgson Academy pupil sprinted home and told her parents what had happened, sparking a police manhunt.

Kellie, 42, said: “She was petrified. She will never forget this.”

The youngster was targeted as she was walking from her home in Valentia Road, close to North Shore Golf Club, to the Spar on Bispham Road, where she was planning to buy wrapping paper for a pal’s birthday gift.

She was on Kylemore Avenue, close to a link leading to Bispham Road, when the silver van drove slowly past at around 5.30pm on Sunday.

It pulled over before one of the men yelled at her, police said.

They then shouted at another man, who was stood nearby, to ‘get her in the van’, though Annabelle, who turns 13 later this month, bolted before she was grabbed.

Kellie, a specialist support assistant at a local school, said: “Annabelle came running through the door shaking and in floods of tears.

“She just threw herself at me. She was very shaken up.”

After hearing the chilling details, the girl’s dad, 42-year-old James, went looking for the van, before driving to Bispham Police Station to report the failed abduction.

Kellie also took to Facebook to warn other parents, with her post being shared more than 600 times.

She said she has been told of a similar van – silver and small in size – approaching young girls in Central Drive, and Talbot Road, while one person has also come forward with a registration.